Subjects of 1973 Michigan photo may be reunited

Jul. 22, 2013

Rhonda Shelly, from left, Kathy Macool, Lisa Shelly, Chris Macool and Robert Shelly hug July 31, 1973, while they play on a side street in Mt. Clemens. Recent online attention to the 40-year-old photo showing two sets of siblings, three black and two white, may lead to a reunion of those shown in the image. / Joseph Crachiola/Macomb Daily/AP

Written by

Associated Press

Recent online attention to a 40-year-old photo showing youngsters playing in a suburban Detroit alley may lead to a reunion of those shown in the image.

The photograph taken July 31, 1973, shows two sets of siblings — three black and two white — hugging while they play in Mt. Clemens.

Joe Crachiola, 63, is a former photographer with the Macomb Daily of Mt. Clemens and he posted the photo recently on Facebook with observations about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida and how adults could learn from the innocence and acceptance of children.

Since then, the photo has been shared thousands of times and received hundreds of comments. Pictured are Rhonda Shelly and her siblings, Lisa and Robert, who still live in the Detroit area; Kathy Macool lives in Texarkana, Texas, and her brother Chris Macool lives in Sealy, Texas.

The 63-year-old Crachiola now lives in New Orleans and tells the Macomb Daily that attention to the photo has been “mind-boggling.”

“It was a very simple picture of innocent children being themselves,” he said. “But you have to remember the context it was taken in. This was five years after the Detroit riots and right in the middle of the busing controversy between Detroit and the suburbs.”

George Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, was acquitted this month in the fatal shooting of Martin, who was black. The case has ignited debates about race relations, guns and self-defense laws. Protests following the verdict took place in cities including Detroit.

Kathy Macool, now 48, said she was pleasantly surprised to learn that the photo was getting attention. She said she always remembered the day the photo was taken.

“My mother raised us to be color blind,” she said. “You treat people the way you want to be treated. I was asked by someone if there was any racism when I was a child. I don’t know, I don’t remember, but I know there is now. I think racism is way worse today than it ever was.”

Robert Shelly, now 46, said he also was surprised by the new attention to the photo.

“It didn’t matter back then to us what your color was, we never thought about that,” said Shelly, who lives in St. Clair Shores. “My mother taught us to love everybody.”